


Friendly Competition

by adventurepants



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-05
Updated: 2010-09-05
Packaged: 2017-10-24 05:04:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/259318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adventurepants/pseuds/adventurepants
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cam catches her wrist before she can get away. “Wait a minute. You smell good, too.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friendly Competition

Vala sits down in front of Cam, coffee mug in her hands, as he pokes thoughtfully at his scrambled eggs.

“So,” she says, a carefully rehearsed, neutral expression painted on her features. “Dr. Weir arrives today.”

“In an hour,” Cam says, sounding similarly disinterested. Elizabeth Weir is scheduled to step through the Stargate at exactly 9:00 A.M., at which time she’ll brief General Landry on the recent goings on in the Pegasus galaxy, before spending a short vacation on Earth.

Cam puts down his fork, and Vala leans across the table to pick it up, intending to spear a bite of his breakfast. He smacks her hand away, though it’s without much force. “Hey, get your own!”

She settles back into her chair, grinning. “You smell good, today.”

“What? No I don’t. I smell normal.” He scowls at her.

“You’re wearing cologne. For Dr. Weir.” Her grin spreads widely across her face, and her eyes almost twinkle with delight- this is going to be fun. She leans over the table and sniffs him again. “I’m sure she’ll like it.”

Cam catches her wrist before she can get away. “Wait a minute. You smell good, too.”

“Oh, Cameron,” she says, pulling her arm out of his grip. “I always smell good.”

He chooses not to begin rattling off a number of dangerous situations they’d been in where no one had smelled particularly pleasant, and instead remarks, “And you’re wearing new hair clips.”

She raises a hand to fluff her hair, held back today by even sparklier and more ornate clips than those from her regular collection. “How sweet of you to notice! Samantha and I went shopping yesterday. We’ll bring you along next time, if you’re feeling left out.”

“No thanks,” he says, and Vala frowns. It would be nice to have him there to carry their bags.

“So, how are you planning to woo her?” Vala asks, and takes a sip of her coffee. She still hasn’t quite gotten used to the taste, but finds it makes her mornings about 70% more pleasant.

Cam rolls his eyes and stabs his fork into his eggs. “Vala, does anyone ever tell you how annoying you are?”

“Almost every day of my life,” she answers, tilting her head thoughtfully. “I don’t let it hurt my feelings, though. If I’ve learned anything from Erica Kane, it’s that you just keep holding your head up high and eventually, you’ll get the respect you deserve.” She pauses, realizing she’s gotten off track. “Don’t try to change the subject. I know you’re going to crush her.” _Such strange, violent phrases the Tau’ri use,_ she thinks.

“I am not going to—I don’t have a crush on Elizabeth Weir. Smells like you might, though. I’m sure Jackson’s thrilled.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Vala says, looking around the room to avoid Cam’s eyes. When she turns back to him, finally, he’s staring at her expectantly. “Oh, fine!” she relents. “But can you really blame me? You’ve seen her, she’s even lovelier than Daniel. And her hair’s always so shiny and well-kept. Did they bring a professional hairdresser to Atlantis? They must have, honestly. She doesn’t get back to Earth near enough to keep it maintained otherwise.”

Cam blinks at her, starts to say that he really doesn’t think the Air Force would put a hairdresser on their payroll, but then decides that he really doesn’t want to get into it. Instead, he says, “So how’s Daniel taking the news? Feeling jilted?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she says, waving a hand at him. “Daniel knows my heart beats only for him. I’ve just… innocently noticed… that Elizabeth Weir is a very graceful, beautiful woman.”

“Right. Of course. Completely innocent.”

“Though I should think,” Vala continues, ignoring Cam, “that if she had to pick between the two of us, she’d probably choose me.”

Cam takes a bite of bacon before Vala has a chance to try to steal it. “Well, that’s just fine,” he says. “Because I’m not interested in Elizabeth Weir. So you can go ahead and wear your sparkly hair clips and make yourself smell like flowers, and it won’t make a bit of difference to me.”

“Oh, now, don’t have hurt feelings. You’re very handsome, I’m sure she’s noticed.” Vala pats his hand comfortingly, then snatches away his last piece of bacon before he’s able to protect it. She stands to leave. “I’ll see you later, Cameron. May the best man or woman win!”

She retreats, a bounce in her step, to the women’s locker room, where she fusses with her makeup and hopes that Dr. Weir will notice how her new eyeshadow brings out the color of her eyes. Cam finishes his breakfast in silence, eyes on his watch, nervously counting down the minutes until 9 o’clock.


End file.
